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Asia
Liberty Insurance to establish Beijing branch
Liberty Mutual’s China subsidiary, Liberty Insurance Company Limited (LICL), has been granted approval by China’s insurance regulators to establish a branch in Beijing. It is the first..
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04 August 2008
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Europe
ING granted Ukraine life insurance licence
ING has received a life licence from the Ukrainian insurance regulator. It plans to start offering life insurance products from the first half of next year. The group has been in Ukraine since 1994, but..
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04 August 2008
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US
Tokio Marine buys Philadelphia Consolidated
Japanese insurance group Tokio Marine Holdings has made its first major acquisition in the US in an agreement to buy 100% of Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp, a US property & casualty group. The..
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04 August 2008
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International
Premiums depressed at mid-year renewal
Excess capital depressed premium levels at July’s property and casualty reinsurance renewals, commented reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter. Risk-adjusted pricing was down by 10% to 20% from July 2007..
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04 August 2008
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Aviation
8.7, crash, fatalities
Colombia: local authorities said a US cargo aircraft heading for Miami crashed near the Colombian capital Bogota, killing two people on the ground. It was the second crash in two months of a Boeing 747 flown by Kalitta Air of..
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04 August 2008
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Natural catastrophes
13.7, thunderstorms
China: about 170 flights were delayed or cancelled in Shanghai because of thunderstorms. According to the website of the Shanghai Airport Authorities, more than 70 domestic flights and 70 international ones were delayed, while..
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04 August 2008
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Marine
8.7, fire, sinking
South Africa: thirty-six crew members were rescued after trawler (All types) Galaecia caught fire and sank off the east coast of southern Africa, the Cape Town Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre said. The Durban-based fishing..
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04 August 2008
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Liability, awards and settlements
8.7, illegal fishing ban
New Zealand: fishing (general) Paloma V (1016 gt, built 2004), which docked in a New Zealand port with fish caught illegally in Antarctic waters, could be banned by 34 countries after losing a court bid to keep its actions..
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04 August 2008
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Property and business interruption
8.7, dockworkers’ strike
South Africa: a potentially damaging strike by employees at the Transnet operated Pier 1 Container Terminal in Durban was resolved after just over a day with workers returning to duty. The strike was the result of a..
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04 August 2008
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Smaller insurers under pressure as market competition intensifies
Most European and other international insurers are already present in Poland. In June 2006, AXA acquired Winterthur Life and Pensions and launched Avanssur, its own non-life business in Poland as a branch operation of one of its French divisions. Bancassurance in Poland was initially slow to develop but over the last few years it has grown in popularity. Of total business sold in 2006, 21.8% was by this method, up from 14.4% in 2005. Allianz and Amplico are involved with the second and third largest banks in Poland respectively. The Dutch banking group ING is present in Poland in its own name and it also owns Bank Slaski, with policies from ING’s life subsidiary, Nationale-Nederlanden Poland, sold in all Bank Slaski branches.
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04 August 2008
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Sector stocks benefit from SEC support for beleaguered financials
Insurance and reinsurance stocks staged their most concerted recovery in months during the fortnight ending 24th July. As usual, the marked improvement in the sector’s stock market prospects had very little do with developments within the..
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04 August 2008
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David Sommer, managing director, EMB América Latina
The opening up of the Brazilian reinsurance market to foreign companies in April 2008 has obscured the significance of developments in the country’s primary insurance market over the last decade. Here, David Sommer, an actuary with years of experience in the region, talks about the liberalisation of Brazil’s primary insurance market, the current situation regarding pricing and the setting of tariffs and the extent to which foreign groups are already present in the market. Mr. Sommer also comments on insurance market reform in other countries in the region and considers the issues and challenges which insurance companies in Brazil will have to negotiate in order to comply with the new risk based solvency requirements by 2011
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04 August 2008
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Costa Rica gives final approval to end state monopoly
• New intervention powers for Peru supervisor • First quarter premiums rise in Honduras, Colombia, Uruguay and Venezuela
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04 August 2008
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Legal ruling causes major upset in Chilean health sector
A judge has ruled against age-related premium increases, a standard industry practice that could now be under threat
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04 August 2008
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Opposition party plans workers’ compensation reform
The ACC could lose its monopoly on workers’ compensation business if the National Party wins the next general election
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04 August 2008
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Finance companies postpone interest payments to avoid collapse
More than half of the 44 companies operating two years ago have either failed, or are trying to fight off receivership
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04 August 2008
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Natural disasters recording above average losses during H1 2008
Munich Re says so far this year losses from 400 catastrophes total $50bn compared with a 10-year average of $35bn
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04 August 2008
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CNP Assurances buys stake in Cypriot bank
The French insurer said it hopes to expand Marfin’s banking activities into Eastern Europe
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04 August 2008
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The US sub-prime fallout intensifies for European groups
Swiss Re said it would reveal more details of its US$9.6bn exposure to US mortgage-backed securities in its half-year results
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04 August 2008
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Financial guarantees and cats send underwriting results into the red
Premium levels fall for an “unprecedented” fourth successive quarter as underwriting results slump to $0.6bn loss
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04 August 2008
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Second quarter records highest number of cats in 10 years
The insurance bill is estimated at US$6bn from a total of 16 catastrophes, nearly double the number in the first quarter
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04 August 2008
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Insurers risk depleted loss reserves, study
The combination of recent net releases and continuing adverse development are close to running reserves dry, Conning says
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04 August 2008
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Worst of rate declines could be over, survey finds
Soft market conditions continue in second quarter 2008 but US p/c insurers strong enough to cope with price deterioration
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04 August 2008
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How IT is driving innovation in global insurance markets
Patrick Molineux, Head of Market Development for Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) Financial Services sector, explains how multinational insurers are utilising the product development knowledge of national business units to innovate in new geographic areas in a way that is market-tested and which also gives them first-mover advantage at a significantly lower cost
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04 August 2008
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Transforming problems into opportunities
The insurance broking industry is clearly not immune from the contagions infecting the global economic system. Speaking at the 44th annual seminar of the International Insurance Society in Taiwan, Julian James, chief executive of Lockton..
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04 August 2008
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BUPA wins legal appeal
The Supreme Court ruling states there is no legal basis for the risk equalisation payments by market players to VHI, which have now been suspended
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04 August 2008
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Reinsurers hit hard by capital market turmoil
Primary insurers shouldered the bulk of substantial catastrophe losses in H1 2008
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04 August 2008
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